Preserving tradition: the role of community customs and sustainable practices in traditional house preservation on Nias Island, Indonesia

Indonesia is home to over 300 ethnicities, many of which have traditional communities living in rainforest settlements. Unfortunately, the number of traditional houses is decreasing because 20th century introduction to Christianity, post-independence agenda in 1970, 21st century tourism and globalisation. Bawömataluo Village, Nias Island, has the largest number of traditional wooden houses (52%) that are still preserved (Atmanti and Uekita 2023). This research focuses on Bawömataluo Village, taking 30 samples of omo hada, observing the renovation activities, and the connection between the rainforest and the settlement. The investigation finds out that there is a continuity of the duality of space, the use of similar Nias native wooden materials inside the house even after modifications, the rainforest holds a strong connection with the living heritage, enough availability of the local materials, building technique and mutual custom in the living heritage will help the community to preserve their traditional house for future generation.This research finally provides calculations of materials required for traditional houses and assess the number of trees should be conserved for the preservation of traditional houses for a span of 100 years. This research finding contributes to heritage preservation in both academic and practical applications.